TRON Evolution was developed by Propaganda Games and published by Disney Interactive Studios. Evolution takes place between the first and second TRON movie and acts as a bridge for the two stories. The game puts players in the place of Anon, a Monitor security program created by Flynn to investigate a conspiracy going on in the world of Tron. Programs with free will called ISOs have started popping up from out of nowhere and are disliked by the normal programs, Basics, causing tension between the two factions. So Flynn created Anon to figure out who killed a popular ISO leader and keep the peace.

Gameplay in TRON Evolution consists of free running platforming, combat using discs and vehicular combat in a tank and on a lightcycle. The free running platforming is cool when it works but often because of imprecise controls and a frustrating camera it ends up being way more irritating than fun. Anon can run along walls, vault long distances, grab ledges and use a magnetic grappling hook. Most of my deaths in the game were due to the camera swinging around while I’m platforming and causing me to jump in the wrong direction or when I’d think I was pointing the analog stick in the right direction to jump but for some reason I jumped in the wrong direction. Good thing is that there are plenty of checkpoints so if I died I didn’t have to start too far back.

Combat in Evolution consists of the player throwing a disc at enemies that can be upgraded and powered with different abilities. Besides the normal attack the disc can be changed to a Heavy Disc which hits a lot harder, Explosive Disc which explodes on impact, Stasis Disc which slows down enemies it hits and then the Corruption Disc which deals damage over time to an enemy while restoring your health. There’s also a counter attack which can be used after successfully block an enemies attack and it does a lot more damage. Most enemies in the game have a weakness and it is displayed the first time you encounter them. Combat in the game is actually pretty fun throughout the game but once all the disc powers are unlocked it gets pretty easy except for when they have you fight tanks with only your explosive disc. Boss fights ended up not being too challenging but sometimes lasted too long.

There are multiple vehicle segments throughout the game which put the player in the driver’s seat of a tank or on a lightcycle. TRON Evolution is perhaps the first game I’ve played in which the tank segments are the most boring in the game. Everything dies in one shot with the tank, it’s really slow and there is never really a time where you are in danger of dying in it. Lightcycle segments on the other hand could’ve been the most fun segments in the game if it wasn’t for bad controls. There were also a few parts where I died because there was a jump and for some reason I didn’t have enough speed and didn’t make the jump but when I’d respawn and do it again the exact same way I’d make it.

TRON Evolution has online multiplayer with 4 different game modes. There’s Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch, Bit Runner which has each team trying to hold onto the bit for the longest, and Power Monger which is a basic capture the point gametypes. Gameplay is pretty much the same from singleplayer where you have the same moves and abilities except with some levels you can summon a lightcycle on command. One cool thing about the multiplayer is that your level and upgrades transfer back and forth with the singleplayer portion of the game. Multiplayer matches end up being pretty fun but anyone that is a really high level will just decimate the other players.

TRON Evolution is a decent action platformer with some issues that really take away from the game. TRON city and the other environments in the game look really cool and I enjoyed them. Evolution seems like a great game for those who are fans of TRON since it will fill them in on some story elements and they’ll get to play in some familiar environments. For those who aren’t into platformers, Evolution doesn’t really offer anything new or better than what’s already out now; but the multiplayer may interest those that are fans of online games.

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